d.m. Roger Hornsby

Roger Allen Hornsby, emeritus professor of Classics at the University of Iowa, died Tuesday morning at his home in Iowa City. He was 83. Cremation has taken place. The remains will be interred in Toronto with those of his wife Jessie. A memorial service will take place in Iowa City, with time and location to be announced.

Professor Hornsby was born at Nye, Wisconsin on August 8, 1926. He received his B.A. at Adelbert College of Western Reserve University in 1949. He attended Princeton University to receive his A.M. in 1951 and Ph.D. in 1952. Between 1952 and 1954 he served in the U.S. Army. He taught at the University of Iowa from 1954 until his retirement in 1991. On June 8, 1960 he married Jessie Lynn Gillespie, professor of French at the University of Iowa.

He served as chairman of the department of Classics from 1966 to 1981. During his career he was also active in numerous regional and national professional organizations. He was president of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South in 1968-69, and on the board of directors of the American Philological Association from 1974-1977. He was a trustee of the American Academy in Rome, a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, a trustee of the Virgilian Society, and served on the council of the American Numismatic Society. After his retirement he was the Whichard Distinguished Professor at East Carolina University in 1997-98.

Professor Hornsby had wide interests in the study of the ancient world and the teaching of the languages it spoke. His publications focused on Latin poetry and included Reading Latin Poetry (1967), Patterns of Action in the Aeneid (1970) and numerous articles and reviews in professional journals.

Roger’s friends and students–two groups that frequently overlapped–will remember fondly his passionate devotion to the life of the mind, his power as a teacher, and his mordant judgements that were aimed at holding us all to high intellectual and social standards. Roger was a generous host and we will always remember the Hornsby parties, given in the grand style, that enlivened the Iowa academic scene and produced so many new and lasting friendships. In perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.

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One thought on “d.m. Roger Hornsby”

Although I wasn’t an academic I am happy to say I have had the privilege of working for Roger as his cook. In that time, I have had many opportunities to meet various guests in his home and have collaborated with Roger to be sure that the guests were provided cocktails and canapes. I deeply miss Roger and will never forget the civility he brought to dining room table. His passing is a loss for all and he will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

rogueclassicism: 1. n. an abnormal state or condition resulting from the forced migration from a lengthy Classical education into a profoundly unClassical world; 2. n. a blog about Ancient Greece and Rome compiled by one so afflicted (v. "rogueclassicist"); 3. n. a Classics blog.